


a night off

by bucksnatalia



Series: soviet spouses drabbles [6]
Category: Black Widow (Comics), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: #BuckyNat Week, Battle Couple Sunday, Bucky Is Happy For Once, Drinking, F/M, Inappropriately Timed Flirting, Sam Sucks At Bowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-31 23:45:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6492547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bucksnatalia/pseuds/bucksnatalia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you're an Avenger, you rarely get a night off of work, and when you do you want to enjoy it. </p>
<p>Bucky and Natasha love each other, but sometimes they want to spend some time with their other friends. But when the girls and guys take individual nights out, they still end up fighting side by side when a gang of ex-HYDRA agents start causing trouble downtown. </p>
<p>And in typical Bucky and Natasha style, they just can't keep their eyes off of each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a night off

**Author's Note:**

> For Buckynat Week 2016's Battle Couple Sunday (just several days late... whoops).

The scene around the three heroes fell to chaos as the HYDRA agents attacked.

Steve didn’t even have to bark orders at them – he, Bucky, and Sam had quickly become an unbeatable team, working together with ease. They moved as one, descending on the agents and beating them back with equal ferocity.

Within mere moments, Bucky had already taken out three agents on his own and was holding a fourth with his fist curled in the front of shirt – when the agent was kicked right out of his grasp, tumbling to the ground with a cry, followed by a blur of glimmering sequins and blazing red hair.

His hands now empty, Bucky could stare at his fallen target with a near pout. “Show off.”

In one swift motion, Natasha had appeared and tackled his HYDRA agent, rolled back to her feet and stood, all while looking drop-dead gorgeous in a sparkling black dress and stilettos. The attack hadn’t even messed up her bun.

“What?” she replied with a wicked grin, “I thought you could use some help.”

Without looking around, Bucky deflected a blow from an agent who’d been attempting to sneak up on him, quickly knocked him off balance, and caught him in a headlock. He was smirking as he said, “And _I_ thought you were supposed to be getting a _manicure_.”

Natasha gave him a wry look before flashing her freshly done fingernails.

“Those look _very_ nice,” the HYDRA agent caught under Bucky’s arm commented with unusual pleasantness. Bucky silenced him with a blow to the head and dropped his unconscious body to the ground.

“You’re one to talk, James,” Natasha said, smirking. At her feet, the agent she’d tackled was reaching for the gun he’d dropped. She stomped on his hand with her heel, kicking the weapon across the concrete while he screamed. A few yards away from them, Sharon Carter stooped to pick it up, donning a blue dress and heels like Natasha’s. Beside her stood Maria Hill, looking upon the scene in distaste. The three of them looked as if they belonged in a nightclub dancing under the lights.

Although, Bucky observed, with Natasha’s grace in battle, this wasn’t really that different.

“Weren’t you boys supposed to be bowling?” Sharon asked, breaking an attacking agent’s nose with the butt of the gun.

“I _am_ bowling!” Steve replied, and with a single toss of his shield he knocked down five agents at once.

From above, Sam let out a whoop of laughter while Bucky rolled his eyes in amusement.

“There was a slight change of plans.”

* * *

  _Earlier that day…_

Natasha was standing in front of the bathroom mirror in nothing but a towel. Bucky could see her through the open door as he dressed himself. In their profession, nights off were rare – typically, they spent them together, going out to a fancy restaurant or seeing a show or one of numerous other things normal people did on dates that they usually didn’t have the luxury of doing.

Nights like this one were even rarer – they _all_ had the night off. Or, at least, half of them did. The other half of the Avengers were covering a mission in Tokyo that apparently didn’t require their aid. For once, they could enjoy a little time off together.

It was nothing against Natasha, but Bucky really missed having some guy time – and he’d barely had to say a word of what he was thinking before she told him she’d already planned a day with Sharon and Maria.

They’d have plenty of time together that night.

Moving to the doorway, he rapped lightly on the frame and smiled as he watched her. She’d pulled her hair away from her face in a bun and was busying herself with applying a bold red lipstick, her brow furrowing as she concentrated.

It was adorable.

“I’m gonna head out,” he announced as she straightened up, not quite turning away from the mirror. “Steve wants to watch the end of the Dodgers game before we go bowling.”

“Steve knows the Dodgers _aren’t_ from Brooklyn anymore, right?” Natasha asked slowly, settling her tube of lipstick back down again. Her red lips curled into a smirk.

“He’s in denial,” Bucky replied, returning the grin and stepping towards her. She turned in time to meet his lips in a brief, sweet kiss that left a red stain on his mouth.

Natasha chuckled at the sight of it. “You may want to wipe your face before you leave.”

“What do you mean?” Bucky asked playfully, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. Her hands flattened on his chest. “You saying I don’t look pretty?”

With a snort, Natasha leaned up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. He didn’t have to look in the mirror to know it’d left another mark. “It might not be the right shade for you.”

“Damn,” Bucky muttered under his breath, and with a soft laugh Natasha pulled herself from his arms to retrieve a hand towel for him. Holding it under the faucet for a moment, she wrung it out and handed it to him before picking up her eyeliner.

Bucky watched as she settled her thumb just below her eye and gently pulled down on the lid. With a steady hand she raised the eyeliner and began to work, brow furrowing in that same adorable way. He waited until she’d finished the first eye before speaking again, afraid to break her concentration.

“Have fun with Sharon and Maria,” he said, glancing at the mirror out of the corner of his eye. He raised the dampened towel to his cheek, gently rubbing at the lipstick stain. “Don’t go too crazy without me.”

“I will make no such promises,” she murmured, still strongly focused on the task at hand, although she was grinning. “Go on. Don’t want to keep Steve waiting.”

Bucky huffed a laugh, wiping the rest of the lipstick off his face and setting the towel aside to dry off. Before he left, he bent to steal one more kiss from her cheek. “I’ll see you tonight.”

* * *

 The bowling ball crashed into the pins, knocking them all down at once. Bucky turned around with a smug expression, arms raised as if expecting praise while the TV monitors displayed a caricature of a bowling pin with X's for eyes. 

“Boo,” Sam jeered.

"You're just jealous because you haven't gotten any strikes yet," Bucky returned as he began walking back towards them, "Sucks to suck." 

“Jealous? Ha!" Sam laughed, leaning back into his seat, "You may be the best bowler, but I think we can all agree that I'm the best looking." 

“Can't argue with that logic,” Bucky said as he strode back to his seat. Steve snorted and stood to take his place, obliging when he raised his hand for a high-five.

As Bucky sat down, he felt a buzzing in his pocket. Reaching for his phone, he pulled it out while he watched Steve. The ball rolled dead center, collided with the first pin, and sent them tumbling – all but the 7 and 10 pins.

Sam whistled. “Good luck with that one, Steve.”

“Looks like you might not need it,” Bucky interjected, reading over the message he’d received. “Duty calls.”

“Seriously?” Steve asked, leaning over the back of his friend’s chair to read the message. “So much for a night off.”

“Apparently there’s a gang of ex-HYDRA agents downtown who wanted to ruin all our fun,” Bucky replied, setting his phone down to gather his things. “It’s fine. We only had a couple rounds left, anyway.”

“When we get done with this, we’re coming back here and redeeming ourselves,” Sam said to Steve. He’d already switched his shoes and was standing, ready to go.

“D’you think they contacted the girls, too?” Steve asked, pulling out his phone. From the furrow of his brow, Bucky could tell he’d gotten the same message.

Bucky shrugged. “They’ve got the three of us. How many more could they need?”

* * *

 Across town, Natasha, Sharon, and Maria were seated at the bar of a nightclub, looking thoroughly relaxed - something rarely found in people like them. But after a long day at the spa, getting massages and manicures and everything else they could think of to help relieve the tension of being super-spies, it was hard not to be so relaxed. It was the first time in ages any of them had had a day to themselves. 

Natasha was sipping on a martini while Sharon joked about something Steve had said when her phone started buzzing.

Maria, sitting beside her in a dazzling red dress and killer heels, was already checking the message.

Her lips curled upward into a smirk. “What would you ladies say to a little bit of excitement?”

“Depends,” Sharon responded, leaning against the bar with a near-empty glass in hand. “How exciting are we talking?”

“A couple dozen HYDRA thugs making a mess downtown,” Natasha replied, finishing off her drink before standing up. A wicked grin had spread over her cheeks.

Relaxation was great, and they needed it every once in a while - but these missions were more than just a job, they were part of a lifestyle of constant action and adventure, and Natasha loved it. It was who she was. (And, given what HYDRA had done to the love of her life, kicking their collective ass was an added bonus.) 

From the look Sharon and Maria shared, they were feeling the same way.

Sharon downed the rest of her drink and set the emptied glass down on the bar beside Natasha's. “Sounds like _fun_.”

Raising her hands in front of her, Natasha activated the Widow Bite at one wrist, and then the other, feeling their energy beginning to pulse. "Let's go." 

* * *

 A metal fist slammed into the face of an attacking agent with a _clang_. When he stumbled backwards, Sam flew down from above and kicked him to the ground. Steve hit another with his shield, and Maria shot the leg of one attempting to get him from behind. Bucky stared down at the agent he and Sam had taken out, making sure he was knocked out, before glancing around to check if anyone else needed help. 

He looked over just in time to see Sharon shoving an agent back into a wall and Natasha catching another in her signature death-by-thighs move. She flipped him onto his back, landing elegantly on her feet. 

"James," she said urgently, "Behind you-" 

Bucky jerked to the side in time to avoid a blow that easily could've knocked him out. His elbow shot back, the metal whirring as it connected with his assailant's chest. The man stumbled backwards as Natasha ran forward, jumping so that her knees straddled his waist and her arms were around his neck. For a moment the unsuspecting agent looked completely bewildered that she would do such a thing - and then she activated the Widow Bites. 

He shuddered as the electricity coursed through him, falling to his knees. Natasha stepped off of him, smirking as he twitched helplessly on the ground.

“That’s all of ‘em,” Bucky said, observing the scene around them. The HYDRA agents were either unconscious or too injured to fight back anymore. Somewhere in the distance he could hear sirens, steadily growing louder. “And the cops are coming. Looks like we’re done here.”

Natasha turned to face him. She looked almost like she was laughing - like all of this was a dangerous game, and she was the winner.

“It’s like they weren’t even trying,” she said, her voice soft and taunting. Her heels clicked on the pavement as she moved towards Bucky, arms crossed. She didn’t look like she’d even broken a sweat.

Bucky looked at her with a brow raised. “Neither do you,” he teased, grinning, “Not a hair out of place – and all in _heels_ , too.”

“Impressed?” she teased, stopping to stand just in front of him.

“Always,” he murmured, catching her gaze and holding it. Around them the sirens were blaring, red and blue flashing lights beginning to shine onto the walls as the police arrived.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you two are real cute, we get it,” Sam interrupted, walking directly in between them, “Save the bedroom eyes for later. I’ve still gotta kick this guy’s ass at bowling.”

“You haven’t gotten a strike all night,” Bucky reminded him flatly.

“That’s because I was saving them for later,” Sam countered smoothly as he continued forward to stand by the others, who were already speaking to the police. “Later being now. You’re going _down_ , Barnes.”

Bucky shook his head, smiling, and returned his attention to Natasha, who appeared not to have looked away for even a moment. “I like the dress, by the way.”

“I thought you might,” she murmured. Behind Bucky, Sharon and Maria had stepped away and were waiting for her. Biting her bottom lip thoughtfully, she stepped around him, shoulder deliberately bumping his as she passed. “But not too much, I hope.”

“Oh?” Bucky asked, turning to watch her over his shoulder.

“Someone has to take it off me,” she replied in a voice low enough for only him to hear. Glancing over her shoulder, she winked at him. “See you tonight.”

“See you,” he murmured in response, watching as the three of them left together, looking just as glamorous as they had when they’d arrived. There was something almost mystical about it – Bucky was _mesmerized_.

Steve walked up behind him, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, lover boy,” he joked, turning him back towards the car. “You’ll have plenty of time for that later.”

* * *

Steve wasn’t wrong.

Bucky arrived home first, but Natasha wasn’t far behind. He’d only just sat down to check the news when their front door opened again and she walked in, looking as stunning as ever.

“Hey, you,” Bucky greeted in a low voice, setting the remote back down again.

“Hey,” she responded, dropping her bag beside the door. Her hips swayed slightly as she stepped towards him, reaching up to release her hair from its bun. Red locks spilled over her shoulders, and she shook them out as she moved onto the couch, straddling his lap. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No you’re not,” he purred, running his hands up her legs and around her back. The tips of his fingers brushed the zipper of her dress. Without hesitation he pulled it down, and she eased the straps over her shoulders so that he could tug the dress down to fold around her waist.

“It’s not like we get every night off, you know,” he teased, dipping his head to press a kiss to her chest, and then looking back up at her again. “They could call us in at any moment.”

Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she tipped her head forward to brush her lips against his. “I’m not busy right now.”

As she pulled back, she caught his bottom lip between her teeth. The way Bucky was looking at her, she could've been a goddess. His human hand flattened against her back, unclasping her bra with a flick of skilled fingers.

“Then we have no time to lose.”

**Author's Note:**

> I WILL be writing a drabble for each of the Buckynat Week themes (although I'm afraid all of them will be atrociously late because college and stuff). In the mean time, if you could let me know what you think with either a Kudos or a comment (or both -wink wink-) I'd really love to know what you guys think! 
> 
> I also accept drabble prompts, so if you like my writing and you want to see something specific, feel free to send your prompts to imaraptornotadoctor on Tumblr! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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